Here is a summary of the most important events that unfolded last month, and which may affect economic, financial, and geopolitical issues in the months ahead: 

North America

• Newly elected US President Joe Biden has already made big moves in his first weeks in office. On inauguration day, Biden signed 17 executive orders addressing a range of challenges from Covid-19 to student debt to rejoining international agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement. He has signed dozens more executive orders since his first day in office, many of which have reversed some of former President Donald Trump’s policies. Last month, Biden also announced his proposal for a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus package and pledged to have 100 million people vaccinated in his first 100 days in office, a figure which since then has been upgraded to 150 million vaccinated persons.

• With only days left in office, former US President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. Democrats were joined by ten Republicans to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection of the US Capitol building on January 6th. This is the first time in American history that a president has been impeached twice by the House of Representatives. However, it seems unlikely he will be convicted in a Senate trial.

•  January 6th, 2021 will forever be remembered as a dark and tragic day in US history. A pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol building, pushing past police in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory of the 2020 presidential election. Despite the traumatic events, Congress reconvened later that evening to formally certify Joe Biden as the next US President. Many blame former President Donald Trump for inciting his supporters to violence.

• US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to extend the New START treaty for five years. The treaty, which is the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the US and Russia, limits the size of the two countries’ strategic nuclear arsenals. While this was a positive step for US-Russian relations, there remains several issues of tension between Biden and Putin, namely the hacking of US private and government agencies and the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny.

Europe

• Last week, vaccine-producer AstraZeneca told the European Union (EU) it would have to send the bloc 75 million fewer doses than originally agreed upon, outraging EU leaders who are already struggling to ensure a smooth vaccine rollout. AstraZeneca claims the contract it has signed with the EU does not bind it to the original delivery schedule but only commits it to make a “best effort” to do so. After emergency talks failed to bring about a resolution, the EU placed an export ban on the vaccine.

•  Last week, protesters stormed the streets of several of Netherland’s cities, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam. People defied the country’s curfew in protest of the lockdowns, vandalized buildings and threw fireworks in the streets. Dozens of people have been arrested as a result.

•  In Russia, tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in the last two weekends in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who was detained by Russian police upon his return to the country. Navalny had spent several months in Germany recovering from being poisoned allegedly by individuals connected to President Putin’s government. Russian police arrested more than 5,000 protesters and human rights groups have reported incidents of excessive force by police, including beatings. The US and European Union have condemned the crackdown, calling for the release of Navalny and the protesters.

• Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s has resigned in a split over the country’s Covid-19 response. The political crisis began just a few weeks ago when former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi pulled his small liberal Italia Viva party out of Conte’s centrist coalition government. Renzi said they would only return if Conte would accept their list of demands. Conte was unable to win a majority vote in the Senate’s vote of confidence, leading him to resign. The parties are primarily divided over Covid-19 spending.

• Germany’s governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), chose Armin Laschet to be its next leader. Laschet, who is currently the prime minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is a centrist political figure and is very likely to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor later this year when elections will be held.

Asia and the Pacific 

• For more than two months, the Indian government has been embattled with tens of thousands of farmers over agricultural reforms. Last week, demonstrations turned violent after farmers stormed the historic Red Fort and clashed with police on India’s Republic Day. The farmers’ union, the group that has been negotiating with government officials over the last several weeks, say they were not responsible for the violence which it says was caused by a minority of protesters. The government says the new laws will give freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside regulated markets, but the farmers say the legislation does not guarantee the acquisition of farm produce at the minimum support price, as previously provided by the government, leaving farmers at the mercy of private buyers.

• Myanmar’s military has staged a coup, seizing power after detaining the de factor leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected leaders. A top army commander has now claimed leadership and the military has declared a year-long state of emergency. The military’s grievances go back to November’s general election where the military-backed party, the USDP, performed poorly. Aung San Suu Kyi is urging her supporters to protest against the coup which has received international condemnation.  

• China flew more than a dozen war planes through the Taiwan Strait a couple of weeks ago, in an obvious display of aggression towards Taiwan, which China says is part of its sovereign territory. The US government has urged China to stop pressuring Taiwan, but it is clear China will not back down even as it calls for a reset in relations with the US as the Biden administration enters leadership.

• Mongolian Prime Minister Khurelsukh Ukhnaa has resigned following protests in the capital of Ulaanbaatar against the government’s handling of the pandemic. Protests sprang up after a video of mother being hastily discharged from a maternity hospital because she tested positive for Covid-19 went viral. On his way out, Ukhnaa accused President Battulga Khaltmaa, from the rival Democratic Party, of orchestrating the protests.

• In another military parade, North Korea showed off its newest weapon, a new submarine-launch missile. Shortly before the parade North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised to bolster the country’s nuclear arsenal. 

• Chinese and Indian troops clashed at the Himalayan border yet again amid stalled talks between the two countries. India and China have been in a standoff at the border since June when a clash at the border resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. High-ranking military officials from both sides met for their ninth round of talks shortly after the scuffle.

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